Erny gets what he wanted from ECI for Cards

Jacksonville's John Kellum goes up for a shot against Croatan's Jon Ferry during Sunday's bronze division championship at the East Coast Invitational team basketball camp. Jacksonville won 54-40.

Rick Scoppe/The Daily News

By Rick Scoppe-Sports Editor/The Daily News

Published: Monday, July 22, 2013 at 10:00 AM.

Jacksonville
first-year coach Doug Erny got what he wanted from his Cardinals in the East Coast Invitational team basketball camp — and maybe more.

The more was winning the bronze division championship Sunday after opening the ECI with a 23-point loss.

The Cardinals jumped out to a 10-0 lead and held off a late charge by Croatan to beat the Cougars 54-40 at the
Jacksonville
Commons
Recreation
Center
to wind up the four-day camp that attracted schools from across the state.

“I thought the kids played real well,” said Erny, who was out of coaching last season after going 406-195 in a 23-year tenure at Lejeune. “We were in a tough bracket during pool play, and I felt like we got better during each game during pool play and continued on.

“Anytime you can win some type of championship for all the hard work you do in the summer it’s always good.”

The Cardinals opened the ECI with what Erny agreed was an “ugly” performance, falling to rival White Oak 52-29, but then steadily improved over the rest of the camp, capped by a 53-33 win over Richlands in the bronze semifinals earlier Sunday and its victory over Croatan.

Jacksonville first-year coach Doug Erny got what he wanted from his Cardinals in the East Coast Invitational team basketball camp — and maybe more.

The more was winning the bronze division championship Sunday after opening the ECI with a 23-point loss.

The Cardinals jumped out to a 10-0 lead and held off a late charge by Croatan to beat the Cougars 54-40 at the JacksonvilleCommonsRecreationCenter to wind up the four-day camp that attracted schools from across the state.

“I thought the kids played real well,” said Erny, who was out of coaching last season after going 406-195 in a 23-year tenure at Lejeune. “We were in a tough bracket during pool play, and I felt like we got better during each game during pool play and continued on.

“Anytime you can win some type of championship for all the hard work you do in the summer it’s always good.”

The Cardinals opened the ECI with what Erny agreed was an “ugly” performance, falling to rival White Oak 52-29, but then steadily improved over the rest of the camp, capped by a 53-33 win over Richlands in the bronze semifinals earlier Sunday and its victory over Croatan.

The Cougars beat Forest Hills 52-50 to advance to the finals.

“I think we got a lot out of what we were shooting for (at the camp) because we really wanted to improve our defense, and I think we played a lot better defense,” Erny said. “We saw guys flying all over the place, diving on the floor, and that’s what we’re going to try to build everything on.”

Erny said he was “definitely encouraged,” adding the team improved on playing at the up-tempo he wants. Also, Erny said he liked the senior leadership he got from Ivory Glynn and Chris Smith.

“That’s another plus,” he said. “I didn’t know who was going to be our leaders, and those two have stepped up to be it.”